Cammie's Quest
by katietheunicorn
Summary: Ordinary Cammie Morgan has been dragged from the only life she knows, and now she must learn to live at the House of Night. She will learn love, lust and friendship; she will become independent, and she must learn never to trust the wrong people...
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh, I'm sorry, Liz, could you just shut up a second?" I asked, feeling very rude, but also very ill and in need of a break from the constant stream of Liz-Natter.

"Sure, you're okay," she replied politely, knowing just how I felt. She was like that.

Right on cue, Bex appeared, chorusing a cheerful "hey!" to Liz and I as we all joined together to go to advanced chemistry with Dr. Fibs.

"Hi, Bex," I said, sounding like crap. Feeling like crap.

Stupid cold! I'd been feeling increasingly awful all day today, and I definitely wasn't getting any better. If I died, would I get out of my English exam tomorrow? One could only hope.

"Are you okay, Cam?" Bex asked, concerned as I launched into yet another spontaneous coughing fit.

"It's just a virus, I'll be fine soon, thanks," I said, but right at that moment, I didn't believe it.

Liz and Bex shared a look, then glanced up at me in unison. They forget how observant I am. Nice to know how much they thought of me.

"Stop it guys, just give me a few days to be a bitch, I'll be better before we know it," I lied, trying to sound enthusiastic (possibly failing - I couldn't be sure).

I sighed as I walked into the lab, and Bex, Liz and I took our seats in the middle row. We took out our notepads and pens, and before I knew it there was a note sitting on the desk in front of me.

Bex's eyes were fixed on me as I mouthed, 'took you long enough' sarcastically. Too often have I been told that I need to quit sarcasm. It has been recommended that I use irony instead.

I unfolded the note while Bex watched, completely unaware of the guys in the classroom (there were very few – this was an advanced class) just foaming at the mouth after a single glance at her beauty.

Rebecca Baxter had a lovely golden glow to her skin, always, and her silky hair was darkest brown, with tones that appeared golden in the light and perfect curls - not too tight and not so loose to be waves. Her lips were a brown-pink cross, perfectly shaped. Her eyes were deep mahogany, and she had a look that could make you spill anything. Anything. Bex was really pretty. And she was strong as well as tall, AND brainy. Some girls get all the luck, I thought.

Little Liz Sutton, on the contrary, was pale-white and short, with sparkling blue eyes and shoulder-length brunette hair that flared out at the bottom. She always wore her uniform perfectly, the green and blue tartan skirt flared perfectly to just above her little knees, the white socks pulled up to the top of her shins and the white blouse tucked in properly and the little tartan neck-tie pinned just so. She was a little goody-two-shoes. With good shoes, I have to say.

Dr. Fibs had started lecturing on the chemical structure and bonding of nitro-glycerine, a highly dangerous, oily explosive, so we sat back and relaxed as I read the note it said in Bex's handwriting:

I mouthed at her not to start, but she glared at me, so I wrote back:

Yeah, if you must know.

No details. I passed it back in front of Liz, who was squashed in between us, where Bex's perfectly manicured hands waited. Hew expression was so excitable, then her face fell instantly and she lifted her head to glare at me. Again.

I stuck my tongue at her childishly, which was at an unfortunate time, because Dr. Fibs called, "Cameron, why don't you enlighten us?"

So I answered "Ascanio Sobrero, 1847," which was the name of the guy who found nitro-glycerine in that year.

"Very good," Dr. Fibs said, probably meaning it without annoyance. He was good like that, and he handed out a lot of extra credit.

Bex passed me back the note. I rolled my eyes and sighed, which brought on another bout of chesty coughing. My eyes were watering by the time the coughing finally stopped, so I looked at the note with bleary eyes. It read:

I could imagine her intense expression as she wrote it, but as I looked over at her now she looked pretty worried. As did Liz, who held my elbow comfortingly, though her eyebrows were pushed into an upside-down V on her forehead and her skin was wrinkling above it.

I smiled at her to tell her I was okay, but she didn't look convinced. Nor did Bex. I remembered the note again, and wrote a reply to her.

Bex, I don't think that's any of your big, fat, nosy business!

She gave me a look that said yes, of course it was, but her reply was not nearly as glare-y or heavy as her face.

I sighed exasperatedly, but smiled and assured her with a thumbs-up, then attempted a charade to say as long as I didn't cough. Which I think she understood, actually.

We laughed a little at that, and I think she and Liz were relieved until the laugh made me cough so hard it threw me forward.

Bex even looked a little desperate right now, and Liz raised her hand. Oh joy, she was going to draw even MORE attention to me!

Sure enough, she followed through, asking, "Dr. Fibs, could we take Cammie to the nurse? Or to get a drink?"

"Of course, of course," he replied, "don't want us all to get the teenage plague."

I glared at Dr. Fibs' back as he turned to write something on the chalkboard, but I didn't care for too long because I enjoyed how he'd neglected the fact that Liz said "we" when any other teacher would have said that only one of them could go or that I could manage on my own.

So all three of us walked outside and Bex bought me a bottle of water from the vending machine which settled my painfully tight chest just a little bit. Bex and Liz sat across from me, still concerned, while Tina Walters marched behind me from the loos to her foundation physics lesson elbowing me on purpose as she went. Bex and Liz glared at her.

Just then, the worst thing happened. Worse than Madame Dabney walking by and sending my best friends back to Dr. Fibs.

We saw a dead guy – and worse than that, a tracker dead guy – coming towards us

Of course he wasn't actually dead, because if he was he couldn't be walking. He was undead. Or un-human or whatever. They say one thing, the scientists say another; we all have our own opinion. Except I was still undecided.

He approached us without expression and the bright blue crescent screamed out from his forehead. He came closer and closer and as he approached he began to raise his finger.

"Cameron Morgan! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"

The long, white finger aimed at me shot out pure power with a blue glow and as it touched my forehead, it overwhelmed me.

I woke up a little while later with a blazing headache. I was disorientated, and my best friends were crying above me.

"Cammie!" Bex screeched, "Oh, Cammie! He Marked you! No Cammie! No! I don't wanna lose you!"

Liz was too hysterical to speak. She sat next to me, crying and squeezed me in the circle of her little arms.

"Guys, calm down, it's fine," I said, my throat was sore, my voice rusty and hoarse.

"Oh, Cammie!" Bex cried again. "Cammie, you'll have to go there! You'll have to _leave_!"

"I know." I said. And it was true, I did know. If I didn't go and live at the House of Night with the other vampires, my body would reject the change and I'd die. Forever.

I looked at my best friends desperately and we hurried off to the toilets as the bell went. Bex and Liz stayed by the long mirror in the bathroom, while I locked myself in one of the cubicles as the final bell went.

I called out, and Liz ran upstairs – tiny Liz – to get all our bags. She managed in three minutes, despite the flowing crowd of students.

No-one came into the bathroom, but we weren't taking any chances. After ten minutes I emerged from the cubicle and stared into the reflective glass, Liz and Bex red faced and damp cheeked by my shaking side.

I was the familiar stranger. You know, when you see someone in a crowd, and you think you know them, but you actually don't? Well I was that person, the familiar stranger.

I still looked like me. I had the same hazel eyes that were more green than brown and the same insanely curly, Taylor Swift-style, tumbling brunette hair with pretty complimentary, well-shaped eyebrows. My nose was sweet and straight, my eyes almond-shaped. My face was fairly round until my pointy chin. I had a baby face, yet I was five feet and ten inches tall. But I was different. My skin was ghostly white, though I'd always been pale, and the few freckles across my nose had vanished.

Bex, shining and golden, stood about two inches below me, little Liz barely reached my shoulder.

But there was one more thing that set us apart, that made me different. On my forehead was the outline of a bright-blue crescent moon. I stared at it I couldn't help it. The rest of my skin made it even more obvious, with the newer, more pronounced whiteness of my face.

A wet tear fell from my left eye, slowly, the first tear I'd shed all night.

More tears followed and soon I was sobbing. I had nothing against what I was; I was curious more than anything but... I just didn't want to leave my life.

I hugged me friends closely and we all cried together.

Around four o'clock, half an hour after school had finished, we decided it should be safe-ish to go outside.

We walked holding hands, me in the middle, towards my little car. I had a sky blue 1966 VW bug, going a little rusty at the edges. It was my baby.

Halfway between the car and the school, we saw a figure approaching us. We froze.

My eyes went big and round. It was Ethan.

We stopped and he stopped about two feet away. I did nothing. Neither did Bex or Liz.

Ethan looked at my Mark. For about a minute, he just focused completely on my Mark, and the three of us focused on his eyes.

After that he stepped forward gingerly, then in a sudden, more forceful movement he hugged me close.

Ethan looked right into my eyes, and leaned down. I could feel his sweet breath, and right there, in front of my very best friends, he kissed me. He kissed me tenderly, softly and gently, and then the kiss became harder stronger.

What I wasn't expecting was my reaction. I completely forgot the presence of Rebecca Baxter and Elizabeth Sutton, my most amazing friends who I definitely should have been more aware of. But I ignored them completely, my right hand curving around the back of Ethan's neck, my left hand tangling in his hair, gripping on tight. I pulled him to me and kissed him heartily, and my body pressed against his.

He reached up and grabbed my wrists gently, pulling me free, smiling at me. I smiled back breathlessly, and for a minute, just a minute, I forgot the entire day. But it soon came rushing back.

I took a step back, and my expression turned to one of desperation and sadness.

"But... you saw... and you still..." I said, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Cammie, this just taught me that... I don't care what you are... you're still beautiful," and he smiled.

I almost cried with joy, but doubled over as a coughing fit racked my whole body. I stood up again after about a minute and there were three pairs of very concerned eyes on me.

The trouble was not the pain or the suffering or the loss... it was not what I was to become, what life I had to leave behind.

In life there are many things a person takes for granted, from the water they drink to the education and love they receive. There are many things, also, that a person does not really realise the importance of until they are gone, such as the family you don't often see (or the family you see too often).

Some things such as the weather or the land around you are taken for granted, though you may not even know it. You just expect it to be there, it is where you have made your home. It is what you roll your eyes at or complain about, but until it is all taken away, you don't realize how much you love it and how much you are going to miss it.

I was going to miss my friends and my family and my car and my home and my school. I was even going to miss English! These were the things that made my life, and now that life was being taken away. My whole world was being taken away from me.

My A-Levels were just two months away, and I'd been studying hard as I possibly could to become a vet for almost two years now. Veterinary science had been my dream. I had wanted to be a vet living in a detached country cottage with climbers clinging to the walls and windows with criss-crosses through them. I wanted two grey huskies and two horses and a red Audi R8 Spyder V10 with a 5.2 FSI engine and a black roof and red leather seats and ceramic brakes. I wanted a warm, homey kitchen and loads of animals around the house like cockatoos and rabbits and chickens and anything that didn't have a better home.

I wanted a husband to kiss me when he came home, and a little baby girl who would grow up to be my best and most beautiful friend. But that possibility was out for me now. Vampires age really slowly. I didn't even know if I could have kids. I wanted to buy little babygros, then little jeans and then training bras. I wanted a life that I could make perfect, a child with a mother and a father, a luxury I didn't have.

There are lots of things I took for granted. Lots of things I didn't want to leave behind.

But the trouble wasn't the pain or the suffering or the things I would miss. The trouble, I realised, was that the situation was all too real.


	2. Chapter 2

I had never had to control my feelings this much in my life, but I had to be strong, and I had to pretend that everything was going to be alright. Truthfully, I just wanted to break down and cry, and not face it.

But I had to. I mean really had to, I'd die otherwise.

I put the little silver key in the lock and turned. The heavy oak door swung open with a squeak at the hinges, and I heard my mum call, "hey, kiddo!" Even something as normal as that nearly made me want to cry.

"Hey, mum," I called, and dumped my bag just inside the door. I kicked my shoes off, too, and took a deep breath.

I walked into the kitchen with my head tilted down, my hair covering my face. Mum was bustling around in there, having another attempt at an edible meal. The microwave whirred in the corner.

"How was your day, kiddo?" Mum asked cheerily.

"Well... Mum, we need to talk..." I said quietly, shakily.

Mum stopped what she was doing and looked up at me, concerned.

By this point, I had raised my head.

She gasped. Her eyes glazed over as her hand came to her mouth and she half-ran the short distance towards me. She scooped me up and held me tight for a long time. A hot tear fell on my head and I pulled away to look up at her.

"What am I gonna do?" she asked, her face utterly desperate. A tear fell from my eye.

She meant how would she cope alone? My dad had been an advanced CIA agent, and when I was seven, he went on a mission and never came back. Mum quit the CIA a year later. Her missions alone just weren't the same.

As for me, I'd been going to a specialised, CIA approved school for years now, since I was five. I'd been studying culture and assimilation, countries of the world, covert operations and other spy stuff for ever. As well as the national curriculum, of course, but I'd finished that ages ago.

But... his was going to be different. My mum couldn't cope without me. I still found her crying, even eight years on. It was going to be hard. But it had to happen.

I started to sob again, as I said "Mama, I love you," and held her to me as close as I could manage. I cried against her chest and she cried resting on my head.

The microwave stopped and the timer on the oven went. There was more to do, but Mum just turned it all off.

She silently took my hand and led me upstairs. She grabbed an old suitcase and together we sorted through my clothes, packing my best jeans, tops and jumpers, my two best, most comfy pairs of pyjamas, a load of underwear, some plimsolls and dressy shoes, my wash bag and Dad's old jumper and sweats – that Sunday wear. We packed my best dress, too, just in case, and my oldest and bestest friend, Cleo, an ancient little cat toy from my very first hospital cot. Half her fur was gone, and her whiskers were bent, but she was just... mine.

Mum held my hand the whole time.

We walked downstairs, hand in hand, and we donned our jackets and shoes. We opened the door and walked outside to find Bex and Liz sitting red-eyed on my VW Bug.

More tears came to me, and I looked down and mine and my Mum's intertwined hands. Bex and Liz came and hugged me, one either side of my head. Mum cried silently beside me, and smiled a sort of "you know" smile when I looked at her, concerned.

We all went in Mum's car, a red Audi A5 Sportback with comfy black seats. Mum drove and I sat in the front seat, Bex and Liz were in the back. We all cried the whole way.

When we reached the huge, black, wrought-iron gates, it suddenly dawned on me that Mum had me and I had Mum, and that was all we had. I started crying properly, gasping for breath and sniffing hard, my chest shaking. Mum squeezed my hand where it still rested.

We all got out the car slowly, robotically. Simultaneously, we looked up at the huge building facing us.

It was built from heavy, dark stone, and facing us was a pair of huge, wooden doors. Like church doors, or castle doors. There were iron holders on every free wall for fire sticks, or whatever. The windows were large and they appeared dark in the glowing sunset.

The courtyard was grey cobbles, and large oaks followed the thick, grey wall as it circled the grounds. Grass grew around the wall, and about four feet in till i reached the cobbles.

Over the far side of thr courtyard I could see a corner of the building the finished in a round room. There was a huged structure sanding alone on the far side of th compex, that looked like it could be a stable or a gymnasium or something.

The huge wooden doors in front of me appeared to lead into a hall or something, and some large, grey stone steps led up to the doors. There were much the same leading up to a few other visible doors, which were also thick, dark wood, but they were lights were on over the doors.

I looked over at the sunset and found that the glow hurt my eyes, despite the light's dullness. I looked away with newly wet eyes, not from tears.

The complex was made up of a few different buildings, but aside from the stable/gym they were all pretty close together. Built with thick stone, the hall in front of me was the biggest, and rectabgle buildings were dotted around. I saw a door not too ar away labelled "girls dorm", but I couldn't see the boys. I saw a building labelled "library" and when I looked up I saw a stack of shelves chock-a-block with books, but it was dimly lit only by the sunset.

There were no lights at all, and as the sun slipped away, the world became black.

The change was sudden. It schocked me and I took in a sharp breath.

Fear sliced through me instantaneously and violently and I did something I'd only ever done once before in my life.

I fainted.

The ground beneath me was soft and featherlight. In contrast, my head was thick and heavy, and there was a sickening throb at the crown.

I tried to get away, and shifted suddenly, freezing again in a second. There was a warm pressure on my right hand, and I blearily opened my eyes. My left hand reached out and found a cold, stone wall.

I raised my knees, the muscles tired of resting in the same position. For a long time.

I tried to ask someone how long I'd been out, but I could hardly see yet, and the words came out in a small, quiet moan.

Then I heard my mothes voice, sweet and soothing, conforting me like I was a little girl again. "Shhh, shh-shh, it's okay, baby, I'm here," she said to me.

I tried to curve towards the sound, and my vision finally cleared to see the beautiful face of my mum.

My mum had always been pretty. She was often asked if she was my sister. She had curling, caramel hair just past her shoulders, and sweet, warm, caramel eyes – just a little lighter than my own. She had an amazing figure, curves in all the right places, a perfect size ten. She could pull off any heels, and she had these amazing glasses (for appearence purposes only) that were black, thick frames, with hot pink, lime green and bright white strips down the side of the arms. She looked really smart in them.

It was nice to wake up to her pretty face, I smiled, but then I saw her red-rimmed eyes and started to worry about the situation.

"How..." I started, but my voice was so hoarse I couldn't continue. Mum brought a glass of water to my lips without speaking and I smiled my thanks at her. I tried again, "How long have I been..."-I wasn't sure how to phrase it-"unconcious?" That seemed technical enough, but my voice sounded like I'd had laryngitis for a month.

"About thirty-six hours, sweetie," she said, and she sounded tired.

"Did you sleep here?" I asked, concerned.

She gave a little 'mmm' as if to toss it off, then said "couple hours, I..."

"Oh, Mama," I whispered, leaning into her. She hugged my head to her chest as if she never wanted to let go, and I wrapped my arms around her back, because I wanted to hold on for ever. "Oh, Mama, I'm gonna miss you,"

"I'm going to miss you too, baby," she whispered as she buried her face into my neck.

At that moment, an incredibly beautiful woman chose to grace us with her presense. She floated through like a door in a way that would make any ballerina stare daggers at her, and her hair was a silky ash blonde, long and voluminous, with a rainbow scarf threaded around at the top. Her eyes were sparkling like ice, they gave her a mysterious presence and drew attention to themselves, grey-green and... just beautiful. Everything about her was breathtaking.

"Hello, Cameron, welcome to the House of Night," she said musically, her smile lighting up the small, dark room.

I realised that the candle burning by the bedside was the only light in the room. The windows revealed it was dark. "What time is it?" I asked hoarsely. Mum offered me the water again and I took a grateful gulp.

"It is six o'clock in the morning, my dear," the beautiful woman said.

She knew my name, I presumed my mother had shared with her my information. "What's your name?" I asked as politely as I could.

"My name is Reveka," she said, like 'Raveeka'. I gave her a questioning look, and she continued with, "it means 'Captivate' where I am from," she said with a slight accent. It bore no evidence of location, but rather a clue that she was ancient, from an old world.

I nodded sleepily, sadly. My hand was still intertwined with my mothers. I had the feeling they had been like that for a whole forty-eight hours.

"Reveka, are you sure she will be okay?" Mum asked, sounding worried. "What if she can't cope, or she gets homesick? What if it's too hard? What if she needs me?" She sounded almost desperate. I think that she needed me, too.

"Mrs. Morgan, I assure you Cammie will cope here. She has the full capability, she would not have been Marked otherwise. We will take care of her, I promise," Reveka answered comfortingly.

"But..." Mum started again, looking for more ways to take me away.

"Mum," I whispered, and she looked at me. " Mama, I will always need you. But right now it's your support I need, okay? Okay, mama?" I tacked on the last bit because she started to cry again, and I needed her assurance.

"Okay," she said finally, gripping my hand. She looked up at Reveka, I couldn't see her expression.

"Mrs. Morgan, Cammie is perfect for this life," Reveka soothed, than she said "Mr.s Morga, I myself will be Cammie's mentor, and I will prepare her for what lies ahead... Okay?" She asked when Mum didn't reply.

"Okay," Mum whispered and turned to me, resigned. "I love you," she said earnestly. "baby, I love you so much," she continued, cupping my face in her hands.

I wrapped my own hands around her wrists, smiling at her comfortingly. "Mama, I'll never stop needing you," I said, and then I whispered, "and I'll never stop loving you, either." I felt a bit silly to say it, it was a little corny, but it was true.

"We brought all your stuff here, kay?" she asked, though she didn't really need an answer. "And I'll visit whenever I can, and if you go on trips I can meet you in town and I'll write or email and I'll get you a better mobile and put it on contract, and we can speak every night, okay?" by the end we were both sobbing.

My mum was the life I'd know since I was seven, since I lost my dad. I had no family besides Mum's sister, Abby, but she still worked for the CIA, and she'd become a ghost. It was sad, really.

"Okay, kiddo," Mum said, using my pet name. She pulled herself together and told me, "Bex and Liz have been waiting, they went home yesterday. They got here about five."

That piqued my interest. Yes, my two best friends in all history of existance were outside, but... it was ten past six in the morning...

"Why is everyone here so early?" I asked quizzically.

"Well, my dear," Reveka answered, "here at the House of Night we find that sunlight is painful for us, did you not find that before you got here? Well, we work by night here to protect you. Also, I am sure you know of what the humans think of us."

I thought for a moment. Yes I did know, humans treated the vampires terribly, but... was it them and us now? Them and me? Mum and me? Were we on different sides now?

I stood up shakily and called, "Bex, Liz!" And the door burst open rather suddenly, my two best friends tumbling out like it was a portal from another world.

"Cammie!" They cried in unison, rushing up to hug me, nearly crushing me. Mum tried to reach out with one hand, but Reveka pushed it back, smiling reassuringly.

Bex and Liz looked at me, and burst into floods of tears. I heard many cries of, "oh, Cammie, we love you!" and "It won't be the same without you, Cammie!" and "Don't leave, Cam!" and at the end, both girls cried in unison, "I'll miss you, Cammie!"

"Shh, shh-shh," I soothed them, rubbing their backs as they hugged me, one on each side. "We'll see each other loads, and Mum said she'd get me a better mobile," I said winking and they smiled. "We won't lose touch, I promise," I continued as I hugged them close.

I stood shakily from the bed that I had been sitting on the edge of since Bex and Liz's graceful entrance.

Mum took my hand again and took my bag from me as I was about to sling it over my shoulder.

I looked up at her, feeling a little rude, and she smiled down at me as though she didn't want to waste a minute.

At least I think that's how she looked, because her expression mirrored mine, and I didn't want to waste time, either.


	3. Chapter 3

Reveka's long, deep-plum skirt swayed and swirled as she walked briskly just ahead of me. I tripped and stumbled often, still just a little concussed.

"Are you okay, Cameron?" she asked again, looking over her shoulder at me concernedly, her ash-blonde hair whipping and thrashing in the harsh wind and her Mark clearly visible. The blue swirls were intertwined and swirled in mesmerising patters that finished like frothy ocean waves. She was movie-star beautiful, strong and curvy with a walk any model would die for.

"Yes, thanks you," I replied. I added, "Please, call me Cammie," because I figured she wouldn't pick it up otherwise.

"Of course, Cameron," she said and winked at me. I smiled tentatively, not wanting to be rude. She laughed, "don't worry, Cammie, not all my jokes are that bad," she called back with the smile still lingering in her voice.

That made me laugh. "Okay," I said happily, the first word I'd said without being questioned.

It was six o'clock at night, an hour before lessons started. My mum and I shared the most dramatic of goodbyes, right after Bex and Liz shuffled out crying. Mum and I just sat holding each other for a long time, and after a while I was curled up on her lap on the bed in the infirmary (Reveka explained that had been where I was resting for the past couple of days).

I whispered "I love you," before I slipped into yet more concussed sleep, and when I woke up – forty-eight hours after passing out – she was gone. I cried silently while I showered and then changed into the clothes I'd worn clean two days before. I hadn't even noticed I was wearing the pyjama's Mum and I packed.

And now Reveka led me along a grey-brick path that framed a large square of lawn in the courtyard that was just beyond the first wall into the building. The walls and paths were all grey stone. They had a sort of historic value, it felt like there were years locked within them, histories untold. I felt very small here.

"Come, Cammie, I will take you to your first classroom and talk you through things there," Reveka said, leading me to one of the thick wooden doors that led into the huge building at the back of the courtyard. She held it open for me and I skipped through.

The hall was just like any other school corridor, except for the grey stone walls. The doors into the classrooms were regular, light wood and windows into the classrooms sat pointlessly in the walls. The floor was lino, wood-printed, pale beech.

Reveka indicated a door with "Room 215" stuck on it. I opened it and walked in. There were counters at the back with draws and cupboards in, and rows of desks with enough room for four people on each side. There were three rows, twenty-four people. That was less than in my old school. It was even less than the number of people who had joined me in the old, abandoned gym back at school for CIA training (not really abandoned, obviously).

There was a whiteboard at the front of the room in the centre, and a fake wood desk against the far wall with the windows in it. In here the walls were plastered and painted a calm, pale blue.

Reveka gestured for me to sit on the edge of the front-row table in front of the desk, while she took the comfortable seat behind it.

Just then, a fat black cat sauntered into the room and leaped onto Reveka's lap. "This is Bobble," she said with that smile creeping back into her voice again. "He's my cat. Or rather I'm his vampire, cats choose us around here."

"Huh," was all I said. Reveka laughed and I laughed with her.

"Well," she started, very friendly, not teacher-like at all, "this is Vampire Sociology room one-oh-one, and I am your teacher, Reveka," she smiled, looking like a teenager.

"Okay," I said, pushing air through my nose and smiling happily.

"Right, here's your timetable and a map of the school. I highlighted your rooms for you; the green ones are the ones where you have to choose your subject. Right now, let's go find your roommate!" Reveka explained, then cried cheerfully at the end, bouncing up. Bobble jumped down a half-second before, sensing the tensing of her muscles.

We walked through many corridors inside the walls, then exited through to the opposite corner of the courtyard then the one we'd come in. There was the arch door with the sign alongside it that read "Girls Dorm."

Reveka stepped inside and flitted up a half-flight of stairs to a main sitting area. Lots of girls crowded around, watching TV, eating breakfast and testing each other in Latin.

"Guys," Reveka said loudly, to get their attention. "This is Cammie Morgan, she joined us the other day. She has been in the infirmary for a few days. I am sure you will make her feel welcome, she is far from home. If there is any disruption, you'll have me to answer to."

That seemed to click with them that this woman was my mentor as a light of realisation crossed their eyes.

"Come," Reveka said, and started to lead me toward a narrow staircase (another half one) to a hall with several doors lining it. I remembered the layout of the main room, the kitchen on the left when we'd entered, the TV opposite that against the wall on the right, and two walled staircases on either side. Lots of beanbags. The other dorms must have been up the other staircase.

"Why is it so important that you are my mentor?" I asked curiously, out of nowhere.

"Because, Cammie, I am High Priestess here at the Tulsa House of Night. I am the direct-line to the goddess Nyx," she paused and took in my confused expression. "It's a lot to take in," she continued, "you'll get it as soon as you come to the first ritual." That confused me even more.

"Don't worry," Reveka said softly, stroking the back of my curly, brown head like Mum did. "This is it," she said, smiling.

There was a simple white door in the wall, same as all the others. The carpet was a dull pink, the walls paler pink. The dorm room was quite different than the hall, with light yellow walls and thick cream carpets.

The first thing I saw was the bed on the right. It had my duvet from home on it, and my Mickey Mouse clock sat on the bed-side table.

Cleo sat on my two pillows, and a new toy, a polar bear about the size of my hip to my breastbone with short, white, fleecy fur. There was a little white note beside it. I reached for it, but I was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello," said the voice quietly but cheerily. I turned to see a small girl, still quite tall, maybe five-four, with long, wavy light brown hair with a cute full fringe and side bits that formed hooks which curled around the back of her ears. Her eyes were sparkling green and her smile was happy, bright and genuine, with canines like little fangs.

She wore pale denim, flared jeans and grey lace-up plimsolls with black blouse that had a silver swirl on the left breast. The blouse was half unbuttoned, revealing an amazing, pale pink Bambi t-shirt. I laughed once, and my eyes formed crescents as I, too, smiled genuinely.

"Hi," I replied, "I'm... Cammie."

"Hey, um, I'm Cadence," she said shyly. "Cadence Blake."

"Oh, well, I'm Cameron Morgan, but you should call me Cammie," I said smiling, equally shy.

We smiled at each other and as I put a black blouse with the silver swirl on the front over my long-sleeved _Twilight _shirt, which was also black with red stuff on the front. I had jeans like Cadence's, but they were tucked into my comfy orange-brown, suede cowboy boots.

I pinned my hair up in a barrette so that it stuck to my head, but I still had curly brunette tendrils licking my face. I cleaned my teeth and washed my face, all while Reveka sat on my bed and Cadence on hers, talking.

I came out of our little en-suite bathroom feeling refreshed, and saw shy little Cadence talking animatedly (but still quietly) with Reveka. It made me smile.

I cleared my throat as I sauntered in and they both looked up at me happily.

"Hey, um, Cammie?" Cadence asked tentatively, quieting toward to the end.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked cheerfully.

"Um... y-your timetable?" she asked.

I laughed once, "of course, silly. Hey, don't be shy, we'll be great friends," I winked at her and Reveka nodded slightly in approval.

She gave me the piece of paper and talked me through it, but it was pretty much self explanatory:

1 – Vampire Sociology 101, room 215

2 – Drama 101, performing arts centre or sketching 101, room 312 or sculpture 101, room 313 or music 101, room 314

3 – English Literature 101, room 214

4 – Fencing, Gymnasium

BREAK

5 – Spanish 101, room 216

6 – Drama 101, performing arts centre or sketching 101, room 312 or sculpture 101, room 313 or music 101, room 314 (different selection than period 2)

7 – Equestrian Studies, Field House

"...So you have to choose which arts subjects to do," Cadence finished after going through each subject with me and pointing out each one's room on the map.

"Thanks, Cadence," I said gratefully, smiling at her.

Reveka seemed pleased, her own sparkling smile spread across her face."Well, you girls seem to have things under control," she said in that slight accent, winking at us.

"You wink a lot," I said cheekily.

"Yeah, I do," she agreed, turned her head back to look at us as she walked out of the room in her long purple skirt and pretty, old-fashioned, button-up, black leather boots. Her rainbow headscarf flitted out behind her.

Cadence smiled at me. "You should follow her, you are in her first lesson," she said. "I'm over the other side. To pick your arts subjects just turn up to the right room."

"Which ones did you pick?" I asked, though she seemed too shy to do drama.

"Um, I have art second, music sixth," she near-whispered back.

"Oh, well I'll do my drama second and my music sixth, then," I said cheerily, and Cadence smiled in reply.

"Awesome," I said and ran out after Reveka, leaving my little note by my polar bear with a sideward glance.

I heard Cadence shut the door softly a way back behind me, as I walked hurriedly past the other girls who stared and out the thick dorm door.

I saw Reveka's headscarf in the crowd and followed, cutting off a corner of grass to catch up.

I recognised the thick door and the plastic corridor and room 215. Reveka leant against the edge of her desk and talked enthusiastically to some students in the front row.

As I entered the room, she looked up and jumped slightly in recognition.

"Guys!" she called the class to order. They sat quietly as I stood just outside the doorway, suddenly cold with fear. Reveka smiled and waved me in.

I walked into the classroom with my head down, until I was in the centre, facing the High Priestess. She brushed her hand against my elbow comfortingly and indicated for me to introduce myself.

"Um... I'm Cammie..." I said shyly, trailing off. Reveka laughed, but not mockingly, more like she liked me.

"Guys, this is Cammie Morgan from our native Oklahoma," she said and the class laughed low. "Find a seat, Cammie, I don't mind where."

So I sat in the first free seat. In the second row, next to the aisle I sat down self-consciously.

"Hi," said a voice to my left, closer to the window as Reveka breezed past my right shoulder to the back of the room. I looked up and saw a tall boy, skinny, sitting all-angles in the plastic chair. He smiled at me in a cheesy way.

"Um, hello," I replied, smiling tentatively, looking down and trying to hide behind my hair. Of course, it was pinned up besides the three or four locks that stroked my cheeks.

The boy had blonde-brown hair sticking up at all angles, and little blue eyes. "I'm Danny," he introduced himself, and smiled warmly.

"Hey," I said politely.

Reveka came and saved me just then, laying a blue and white textbook on the desk in front of me and dropping a couple of notebooks and pens there as well. "These are yours to keep. As this is your first room of every day it is your form room, and see the open cupboard back there?" she asked and we looked around to see a small cupboard like a locker standing open. No lock. "That's yours, and all your stuff goes in there from all your lessons. You'll have to work out when's best to come get the stuff for your lessons." She hurried to the front of the class in her heeled boots and began the lecture.

I listened and took notes obediently, but I didn't really understand. Reveka was teaching of an ancient High Priestess from when the Tulsa House of Night was first built. "Her name was Aleta, which means winged, and she was the founder of the School of Advanced Tracking, where trackers were trained to select the Goddess's chosen based on thought patterns and the frequency of nerve impulses. It is where every tracker vampire is still trained today.

"Aleta had to kill her best friends, two twins, who were wrongly selected for Nyx because they stopped listening to Nyx and started to follow a different path. They became evil, and unleashed the fury of Keaton, a black translucent spirit that took on the form of a hawk, as was his name, meaning 'place of the hawks'.

"Keaton rebelled against the humans and the vampires, often killing, though he needed not any nutrition. He was full of greed, and took all he wanted. That was the fault of his downfall. Aleta lured him with beautiful women, who had agreed to the deal because they felt it was for the better. They waited for him, clothed in diamonds and pearls and precious metals, and true to form, Keaton came to them, and Aleta sacrificed her two friends, the twins, for they were his passage into this world. As they perished, so did he, without laying a finger on the women.

"Aleta saved the civilisation of vampires, and after having to murder her frinds, she founded the school to train trackers, so no vampire would have to make that choice again.

"One of the women still remains, Zenith, meaning the point of heaven directly above you. She rules in in the senior House of Night in an island called Madrigal, south of Italy, where warriors of the Goddess are trained. She is second to the high priestess there."

Reveka's soothing voice with her slight accent had nearly put me to sleep, despite my note-taking. She brought me out of my trance with the words "It is time to move on, guys, see you tomorrow. I'll be in my office if anyone needs me. That's right next to the infirmary, Cammie," she added for my benefit.

She caught me on my way out and said in a language I dould not identify "_Utapata njia ya goddess, vijana moja._"

I learned later, with the help of a translater website, that she said to me, "you will find the path of the Goddess, young one."


	4. Chapter 4

I walked from room 215 and out into the courtyard with a notebook and pen in one hand and my map stuck in front of my face with the other. I'd left my sociology book in my cupboard at the back of the room.

Cadence had marked my map with different shapes and Drama was starred, telling me to go along one path of the courtyard to the performing arts centre. It was not separated from the main building, unlike the fencing gymnasium (circled) and the equestrian studies field house (triangled).

It took about two minutes to cross the grey cobbles to the large arched doors, which were again thick wood. The brick was again grey, but when I walked in I noticed lovely, thick deep blue carpet.

I thanked God... _Goddess _for that carpet. I was wearing those cowboy boots, and they were comfy, but the soled were thin rubber and not well padded.

I walked in after the rest of the class apparently, a little too much time consulting my map.

"Uh... sorry..." I whispered to the professor standing in the middle of the room. She was shortish, with hazel-brown kinky hair loose to her shoulders and smiling blue eyes. Her pale face was mottled with barely visible freckles, and her chin was pointed, her face heart shaped. Her tattoos were like curling ribbons and I swore I could see little birds nesting and the spirals as they came around her forehead and eyes.

She wore a black top with a purple cardigan, smart black trousers and comfy textile boots, hidden under her trousers. Her hands were tucked loosely into her pockets and she stood with her legs crossed, relaxed in her environment.

"That's alright, darling!" the professor said animatedly with a very slight cockney accent, flashing a crooked but lovable smile. "My name is Professor Cox, but everyone calls me Adara. It means 'from the oak tree'."

"Thanks... Why do everyone's names have a meaning here?" I asked, then blushed when I realised how rude it sounded.

"Oh, don't worry, silly!" Adara said. "We all choose our own name when we come to the House of Night. Did Reveka not say?"

"Oh... no, she didn't," I said quietly.

Adara laughed, "silly mare, she's always forgetting things!" She winked at me. "She'll talk to you about it later," she finished, smiling again, but warmly this time, genuine, less excited.

I couldn't help but smile back. Adara indicated to the back of the room for me to take a seat.

I looked around the large room with the tall ceiling. The walls were black, oddly enough, but I created a good performance space with the dark carpet. I spied a fully-functioning lighting rig attached at the midpoint of the ceiling, and several further forward as well, where there was a shallow, black stage waiting, all shiny like a professional performance stage.

The room was divided into two, the front half, the half to my left when I walked in and the side the door was closer to was devoted to performance space, completely empty, with the stage at the back and an empty sea of carpet between me and it. At the back of the room, there were rows of tables, split apart slightly to form two angular arches. There were books in each space, but the students had brought their chairs to sit in a semicircle in front of them.

I took one of the black chairs and placed it at the end of the line of children, all alike in that they had the same crescent outline on their forehead, and the same symbol of the silver swirl on their shirt, blouse or sweater. Cadence had told me that the uniform was very relaxed and that, as long as you bore the Goddess's symbol for your year group, you could wear anything, just about.

"Okay!" Adara called the students to order. "We have a new fledgling"-Cadence had told me we were called fledglings, midway between vampire and human-"with us today, everyone say hi to Cammie!" She sounded very excited and all the students obeyed her, chorusing 'hey and 'hi' and 'hello' all at the same time. I smiled slightly, blushing. I was confident, but I didn't like being given the limelight in that context. I was perfectly confident on a stage. I thought that that was pretty weird, but then I was really kind of weird, so it didn't really matter. I'd make friends soon enough.

"Right, as most of you know, we'll all start by introducing ourselves and telling the class something interesting about us for Cammie, and then we'll get on with our new topic – you're just in time, Cammie – Shakespeare!"

I thought I heard the class groan as I smiled, which confused me. I mean, Shakespeare in English? Not a chance, I simply cannot study it, but in drama... well that was a completely different thing, I loved performing Shakespeare.

"Okay," Adara continued, "Orianna let's start with you. Oh, and if it has one, say what your name means, Cammie seemed surprised how most names have a meaning!"

"Hey, I'm Orianna," said a bright blonde girl on the end of the row, across from me. "And that means blonde"-we both laughed then-"and I arrived at the house of night six months ago," she smiled at me warmly, obviously knowing how I felt.

It went on like that, taking only five minutes, with first Orianna, then Charlotte and Anna, then Daelyn meaning small valley, and then Oliver and Daxton from Dax in France. There were seventeen students altogether, plus me and the girl next to me.

She said, "My name is Fallon. It means descended from a ruler. I came here last week," and she sounded... lonely. Like she missed her home. I smiled at her. I missed my home, too.

Thinking of home with Mum made my eyes glaze over, but it was my turn, so I said "my name is Cameron Morgan, which one-one-eight said means bent nose, which is great to know." There was laughter, and I cracked a smile. It was quite funny, but fortunately my nose has always been straight, slightly rounded at the end.

Adara laughed, too, before grabbing books from a stack at the side of the room. She gave us one each; I was last as the pile had originated nearest Orianna.

The Tempest. I gasped in happiness; this was one of my favourites.

"There will be auditions..." Adara started, handing over the last book to me. "Now."

The whole class gasped, including me and Fallon. Well, I knew I wanted to be Miranda anyway, so I was sorted.

"So, have a five-minute scan through, and see who you wanna be!" Adara finished happily. She was a very happy person, I noticed.

I flipped through, looking for the exact page, he one that was dog-eared at home. I came to Act three, Scene one, and read the lyrical words for the gazillionth time.

Five minutes later, Adara silenced the low chatter in the room and brought us all to the stage. "Each auditionee will perform their chosen passage on the stage, I'm sure the rest of you can live to stand for a while, watching. Right! Fernandos!"

Oliver and Daxton auditioned for Fernando, as well as two other boys Michael and Fain, meaning joyful.

They were pretty good, I definitely had to admit. Their lines were fluent, though they weren't familiar with the script, and they applied a lot of emotion. It was good to see that they all had a different interpretation as well.

"Mirandas!" Adara hollered, and I lined up for the stage behind Orianna and Daelyn. I thought Fallon was going to come up, too, but her muscles relaxed and she stayed put. I thought about persuading her to come up, but I didn't really know her.

Before long it was my turn, and I had chosen a different speech to the other two girls. They both had chosen the "_if by your art, my dearest father_," speech, but I had chosen mine from further on in the play.

I took to the stage, standing in the centre with my muscles firm, my stance quite strong, as Miranda was finally assuming authority in this scene. I took a second to fully absorb her character, and then I began to speak.

"_I do not know One of my sex; no woman's face remember,_

_Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seen_

_More that I may call men than you, good friend,_

_And my dear father: how features are abroad,_

_I am skilless of; but, by my modesty,_

_The jewel in my dower, I would not wish_

_Any companion in the world but you,_

_Nor can imagination form a shape,_

_Besides yourself, to like of. But I prattle _

_Something too wildly and my father's precepts_

_I therein do forget."_

The class clapped like we all had at the end of everyone's auditions, and I saw Adara making mental decisions as to whether I was any good or not. I'd always been pretty good at reading people, and I could see her mental assessment, but I couldn't read between the lines. She was obviously a pretty good actress herself. I thought if I'd said that said that out loud I'd have winked in a playful way, but I just smiled at Adara as she cried, "Calibans!"

The lesson was pretty repetitive after that, with the nineteen students each auditioning for one character and Adara mentally deciding things. She never wrote anything down, and I remembered that neither she nor Reveka had taken a register. They must have had photographic memories or something. Instant photographic memories, perhaps. I wondered if as a vampire/fledgling/whatever my sight would get better, or maybe just my observation or my memory.

When the auditions were finished, the lesson was over, and I realised we were pretty lucky to cram it all into fifty minutes. I noticed there was no clock in the room. Adara must have had in-built time sensors, too.

Next I had English Literature 101 in room 214, which was squared. It was right next-door to 215, and I made it in time. I saw Reveka laughing as I walked past room 215. In there, I noticed that on the students' black shirts was embroidered a golden chariot, sparkling against the block background.

I hurried into room 214, which was to the right of 215. The layout was basically the same, and there was the same worn black carpet as was next door. The desks and whiteboard were all in the same place, the room was like an exact copy of its neighbour.

I took a seat in a free space on the second row, against the wall opposite the windows into the outdoors.

"Silence," said a disciplinary voice as a woman gracefully entered the room. She wore smart black trousers and a bright pink blouse with some silver chains. She carried a pile of books which she dumped on her desk.

She scanned the room and her eyes stopped to rest on me. "Ah, Cammie," she said. Word spreads fast then, I thought as she continued with "I'm sure you've had enough introductions already." She raised her voice. "Guys! This is Cammie; you'll all get to know her I'm sure. Anyway, you all know the deal, so."

She placed half of the books she'd brought in on the left row of front desks and half on the right desk. They soon made their way back to my row, and the girls next to me.

I looked at the black book in front of me, with the messy orange outline of a sketched bird. We were going to be studying To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the best books ever written. At my old high school, I'd studied Of Mice and Men, which was just the dullest most depressing novel ever written, no offence to John Steinbeck, who, despite his depress-y-ness, was a pretty good author.

I beamed at the thought of studying this book, a masterpiece that sat dog-eared on my shelf at home, read countless times. I lifted the book to my nose and breathed in the old, musty scent.

"Now, Cammie," the professor said. "My name is professor Penthiselia, and I'll be your English Lit. teacher for all the time you're at the House of Night," she continued, smiling at me.

Professor Penthiselia started introducing the book, talking about it as though this were a normal English lesson in any other high school. She had long, reddish-blonde hair, the professor, and big, hazel eyes. She had a curvy body, and the tattoos on her forehead that came to frame her eyes were thin, Celtic knots, intricately weaved and curled together.

She launched into a summary of To Kill a Mockingbird, but I didn't hear. I engrossed myself in the novel and made it five chapters in before the lesson finished. The class read aloud the first two chapters while I read alone. Probably not so good for my very first lesson.

I walked out happy enough though, and followed the little sword shape to fencing, though it was pretty obvious. I left the main complex and crossed the grass in the courtyard like many other students did. I walked through an arch on the corner to see a huge building standing squarely on an island of grass, as the map depicted.

It had a high ceiling like all gyms and it had pale wooden floorboards. It was pretty uneventful, really. There were a few students gathered in the centre, including Danny from sociology, and at the front was the professor.

He was short and stocky, his hair short and curly and dark, a crooked grin was spread across his face. His smile was warm and his face cute. His tattoos were like two dragons, serpent-like and wrapping down to just above his jaw.

"Ah, Cammie," the professor said as I entered, notebook and pen in hand. "My name is Dragon Lankford, everyone just calls me Dragon," he said, and he and the class all laughed a little.

"Oh..." was all I could say. Dragon laughed, but more with me than at me. "I think Cadence mentioned Lankford, but... not Dragon?" I said, in such a way in was a question.

"Oh, that's my wife, Anastasia," he said it so simply and yet there was so much pride and love and pleasure in his voice. It was so lovely it made me smile.

Fencing was fun. I kept moaning about holding the sword wrong, and Dragon kept moanig about it being called a foil. We'd struck up quite a companionship by the end. We just laughed and took the mickey out of each other.

I tried dualling Danny and he thrashed me. I tried dualling Orianna and she thrashed me. I tried duelling Fain and he thrashed me. Each time I lay on my back, foil-less, laughing so hard I shook, with another foil pointed at my neck. Danny had two foils suspended above me.

I left the gym smiling, a little sweaty and quite proud of what I'd learnt. Dragon high-fived me which made me laugh, and Cadence was waiting for me for our break.

I smiled at her genuinely, and she asked me about her day. I'd gathered when I first met her that I'd be the talker, so I told her about my day contentedly as we walked aimlessly around the courtyard.

"It's alright here," I said as we walked, with no provokation.

"Yes, it is," Cadence said, though she sounded unsure. I figured I'd ask her about it in the dorm later, but until then, I just smiled, and advised her to do the same.


	5. Chapter 5

I left Cadence in peace as she went to Italian, and made my way to Spanish. It was in room 206, which was right next door and identical to Reveka's classroom again.

In graced the professor, very Hispanic. She had loose black curls that tumbled thinly to her shoulders, and dark brown eyes that matched her cappuccino skin. Her Mark was like a little bird, the tattoos resembling feathers that sprayed out from the little crescent of a body. She wore white linen trousers that folded up at the bottom but still reached the floor over her brown leather pumps. She wore a camo-green long-sleeved blouse with eyelet decorations beside the buttons.

"_Hola, estudiantes_," the professor greeted the students. "_Cammie y hola, soy profesora Garmy_," she said to me, greeting me also and telling me her name, profesora Garmy.

"Um... _Hola_," I said, and the profesora giggled. Was everyone going to laugh at me today? I suppose the teachers laughed mostly in endearment, though, so it wasn't too bad.

The lesson focused mainly on cats, or _gatos. _We learned to talk about _el gato que estaba sentado en la estera, _or 'the cat that sat on the mat'.

It was funny, really. I asked as best I could why cats were so important, and profesora Garmy replied, "_Los gatos son mensajeros de la diosa. Son muy inteligentes, y en esta vida, que usted elija, no al contrario. Debe respetar los gatos, y un día, tal vez uno va a encontrar.._"

I was completely lost. Profesora Garmy laughed, and said, "What I meant was, cats are the goddess's messengers. They are very clever, and in this life, they choose you, not the other way around. You must respect cats, and one day, perhaps one will find you." I thought about that for a while, and remembered Reveka mentioning it before. I guess the Spanish just confused me.

"Oh yeah," I replied, "I think Reveka may have said. She has a cat, doesn't she?" I asked, my poor memory recalling nothing.

"_Si_, Cammie," the professor replied, "You remember Bobble? _Es un gato gordo._"

And the lesson got on again. It was pretty basic, but there were three groups of work, I of course being in the lower as I was the most illiterate on the subject.

After the forty-five minutes, I made my way to music. I had always enjoyed the subject, and had been in every school choir until year nine, when it became 'uncool'.

I walked in the door to room 314 (heart shape), which was just along the lengthy corridor and around the corner from the Spanish room, relatively on time for once. There was a teacher leaning on her desk with her legs crossed and who, just like Reveka, was leaning forwards and smiling, laughing with her students.

I slowly entered the room awkwardly, my notebook hugged to my chest with both arms. As soon as the professor saw me from the corner of her vision, she stood up and smiled widely in realisation.

The teacher was very pretty, with very honest blue eyes and silky, shoulder-length hazel coloured hair. She had a few gold teeth, which seemed quite funny seeing as she was a vampire and all. Her marks were just like winding musical staves, often curling and spiralling, and I could identify several music notes wrapped into the mess of beautiful blue ink.

"Hello," she said cheerily, "Y'alright? I'm Aria Stennett, but I'm another of those call-me-Aria folks, okay? Hope you're alright, Cammie," she said the last part winking and smiling, not waiting for an answer to either of her questions. But then she asked something that surprised me. "What's up with your mark?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked. "My mark?" It was the outline of a crescent, like everyone else's, was it not? Now I thought about it, I remember seeing several eyes pinned to my forehead, even Danny and Cadence. But they'd been too polite to say. "What's wrong with it?" I asked, knowing now that it was different.

"Well it's filled in?" Aria said in such a way it was a question. She reached over the table so far she was actually laying on the desk on her belly, and dragged her handbag along, pulling out a little mirror when after a little rummage inside.

I looked into the slightly concave looking glass and found that my Mark _was_ filled in. How odd. "What does it mean?" I asked, a little scared.

"I don't know," Aria said just as cheerily as before. "But I'm sure you'll find out. Grab a seat," then to the class, "Oi!" They were quiet, smiling up at her.

I spotted Cadence nearer the front of the room, on the second row. Nobody sat on the row of four in front of us, but some people did sit in the front across the aisle. Cadence was in the corner, alone, and I sat beside her, two empty seats along from me.

"Do you normally sit here all alone?" I asked, upset for her.

"Yeah," she said happily enough in her quiet voice. "I like being alone, I'm not... lonely," she said, and I knew exactly what she meant. I smiled at her warmly.

"Well, you've got me to bug you now," I said smiling. When she kept looking at me I winked at her, and in her genuine smile and glowing eyes, I knew we had found some very good friends in each other, especially as I was sure my expression mirrored my roommate's.

"Right, guys!" Aria called, and began the lesson. She started simply, asking us to write out the C major, G major and D major scales. We went to the bass clef then, and then to the minor scales of A, E and B.

It was just theory, stuff I'd done before in my G.C.S.E. I spied the computers at the back of the room and pleaded. 'Not Sibelius, please not Sibelius..."

Unfortunately, Aria had told me ten minutes ago that yes, we did use Sibelius. I had groaned.

Now, though, I made my way to the Filed house. Cadence had run out of shapes her, and drawn a smiley-face on my map. I laughed adoringly.

I walked in the big barn-style doors and breathed in the dusty smell. On my right I saw a dust school, three times the size of any I'd seen before. The field house was in fact that separate building I had identified when I first came to the House of Night.

The stable itself was like a big barn, but it did have hose professional doors with the metal bars and actual non-rusty bolts (that's just Oklahoma for you). The stable was the door and then space the same size as the door next to that, but it was pretty deep to make up for that, going about three and a half door-widths back. The bedding was deep and the banks were high, the feed and water dishes had enough space not to cover everything else in slop.

The stables were through an arch from a small dust hall kind of area, like a big square entryway. The arch was in the centre of the long corridor of stables, with a sort of office area at the end to the right of the arch.

In the entryway which I decided to identify as a smaller dust school – it did have a circle walked in around the edges – other students began gathering and low chatter filled the high-ceilinged hall.

I recognised Fallon from drama, so I walked over to say hi and ask how she was. It seemed silly, I'd only seen her earlier, but it was the common thing to do, I guess. Not in that it made me a common person, just that it was popular and yet still polite.

"Hi," she said. "Yeah, I'm okay, how are you?"

"Well," I said, "I've been better, not every day I'm told I'm a vampire," I winked at her and she smiled slightly. "Especially a special one," I sighed, leaning against the wooden board wall.

Fallon giggled, and I did too as I recognised my awful rhyming sort of pun. "Shut-up," I said in a joking kind of way, but she stopped as though I had some high air of authority. "Hey! I was just kidding! Don't ever be scared of me, ever!" I said, and she smiled, not just for my benefit, but because she was relieved, judging by her facial expression.

A pushed air through my nose, smiled, rolled my eyes and shook my head all at the same time. Silly Fallon.

At that moment, my last professor galloped into the room. Literally, she galloped. Her hip-length cornsilk hair flew behind her as she entered the small dust-school on a beautiful ginger-biscuit horse with one white streak in its long ginger mane. One of the prettiest sorrel chestnuts I'd ever seen.

The professor quickly came down to a trot from the gallop and stopped immediately in front of us, the horse facing the left wall. I noticed the heavy, new-looking, black leather saddle with shiny silver stirrups and the smooth leather bridle. It annoyed me, though, that she had those stupid rubber circles either side of the bit in her mouth. She had a nice, loose bit though, comfortable.

The professor expertly jumped off the chestnut without effort, simply throwing herself off sideways. I wondered how much experience she had, which made me wonder how old she was.

Her face was flawless, her pale blonde hair framing it with just the slightest thin wave. Her eyes were so sticky, it was hard to look away, and they were the most odd and yet beautiful slate grey colour. I looked into them several times, and each time picked up another colour from the spectrum. Blues, greens, purples, golds, browns and even pitch black and shiny silver specks.

She entered smiling and her teeth were sparkling white and perfectly straight, but not in a filed-down peg kind of way, she had lovely happy shape to them, slightly rounded. And pointed canines, I noticed.

"Hey, people," she said in a teenage kind of way.

The class laughed and jittered with her.

"Yo, Cam!" the professor called and I froze. "Wassup dawg!" she yelled. I stood there, catching flies.

The professor, as did all the class, completely exploded with laughter. "Aww, Cammie, I'm just messing with you!" the professor cried. "I'm Lenobia, no professor," she said, and came over to completely stifle me in a motherly hug.

As she pulled me in, she whispered, "don't worry, there's a fair chance you won't get trampled today," and drew back, smiling 'worriedly' with a 'serious' expression on her face.

I raised my eyebrows to let her know I was no fool and she laughed. "You're quick," she said, and I thought I heard a little respect, which made me smile. It was nice to hear.

"Right, guys!" Lenobia yelled. "It's breaking day," she said, and some of the class – including Fallon – turned ghostly white. Before I could stop it, a happy "awesome," escaped my mouth.

"Well," Lenobia said challengingly, "you, Cammie, can go first." The class all took a step back. "And we've got Pandora for you," she finished, and the class took another step back.

I lowered my eyebrows to tell Lenobia to bring it on. Funny how in that five minute period I was already challenging her and treating her as a friend, which I really liked.

Lenobia went through the stone archway, which was about five feet wide, with the instruction for us to talk amongst ourselves.

"You are so dead," Fallon whispered comfortingly, her eyes so wide they were circular. She probably actually believed that, and Pandora is a very strong, powerful name.

Pandora led the way, but her lead-rope wasn't too taught. Lenobia followed, the competition clear on her face, though I could still read concern and authority there. I'd always been good at reading people.

I took Pandora's lead-rope fearlessly and led her to the centre. I didn't take any crap, showing her I was so the boss. She cantered and trotted so many circles because she didn't get a perfect set of ten. Her own fault.

Lenobia held the rope while I leaned on Pandora's back and tapped at her side. Soon enough, I was leaning full on the mare's back, my forearm horizontal against her spine. I never lost focus or concentration for a millisecond, and soon I was cautiously straddling Pandora, one palm flat on her back to push myself off if the need arose.

The need did arise a few moments later, when Pandora bucked really high. I immediately threw myself backwards, curling up to avoid broken bones. Lenobia did look concerned, but an experienced stable worker, she didn't let go of Pandora's rope.

The buck made me even more determined and before she'd made a full circle since her buck, I threw myself against her ribs using the rope to push myself up. My hips were bent over her back so I was like a roof. She did stumble and bucked slightly, but I held on and did something really stupid.

"Cammie!" Lenobia yelled as I fully sat up on Pandora. I knew better than anyone she was so not ready yet, but I soothed her, rubbing her neck and regularly squeezing her sides lightly. I stroked her all around, moving my hands in an unbroken line.

She was calm, and soon I was moving properly like a rider and her ears weren't even back. I clung to her mane and kicked lightly. She cantered beautifully, very quickly. I beamed in triumph. Pandora'd still need many sessions yet, but I felt achieved.

I dismounted and thought I'd trial her. I wrapped a rope around her like a girth, with a couple of loops in it for stirrups. When I mounted again I rode Pandora like a jockey, constantly kicking for her to get used to the notion. When she slowed I kicked harder and she grasped that I wanted her to speed up again. She blazed forwards without a thought, without a fick of the ears.

It had been forty minutes, so I dismounted and led Pandora to the only empty stable in the corridor. There were forks and wheelbarrows in the corner, so I quickly got to work mucking. It took me a good five minutes to locate the wall-tap, but I did and soon Pandora had a fresh water bucket, we she got to work lapping quick enough.

She was a fairly clean horse, and after so many years of practice and near misses, my great cowboy boots stayed clean and poo-free. Which was nice.

There wasn't a bell, of course, and I already noticed how I was about ten minutes out from the actual time, which was pretty good.

I turned to leave and jumped. Lenobia leaned against the stone archway with her ankles crossed. "That was amazing," she said. "And thanks for clearing up."

"That's okay, and thanks. She wasn't that bad though."

"She's the worst, actually." Lenobia said coolly. "I think you might have a little power."

"Well, Cadence said in break that you only got powers when you were an actual vampire."

"Yes, but Cammie you're special, everyone can see that already," she said, and that was the exact moment she earned my whole capacity of respect. She was not jealous, nor was she careless or ill concerned. She was not just curious or wanting to have all the gossip. I could read her, she left herself open for me. She meant it, and she loved me for it. Obviously we were not in 'love', but as another person and as a teacher and as a friend, she genuinely respected me and saw into me. Like in James Cameron's Avatar populace, the Na'vi, it was like she was actually seeing _into _me.

And I liked it.


	6. Chapter 6

I brushed my dusty cowboy boots on the little hedgehog thingy outside the door to the girls' dorms.

As I walked in, the room went silent. A few girls stared and I stopped. One girl glared, a blonde with thin lips and too much mascara. I looked back at the girls curiously and slowly side-stepped to the narrow staircase up to my dorm room.

Cadence was laying on her bed reading when I came in, a book called _Hush, hush_, but she put it down with the open pages pressed against the little wooden nightstand.

"Hey," I said as I crossed to my bed.

"Hi," Cadence replied, smiling. "I... um, I heard about what happened today... with Pandora..."

"Okay... How many people _don't _know?" I asked.

"Um... the janitor may not...?"

"Thanks, but that was rhetorical," I said, a sarcastic tone to my voice. I winked at Cadence to show I was joking.

"I'm just going to jump in the shower," I said, and got a reply of 'okay'.

The warm water was lovely, unknotting the aching muscles in my back and slicing through the knots in my wildly curly hair. It was over quickly, though, as I was so tired I could barely stand up.

I tramped towards my bed, dragging my slippered feet before I collapsed onto the bed with the lovely, thick duvet. I completely forgot about my note until I heard the paper crackle under my shoulder.

I curled up with my polar bear, feeling a sudden pain in my right shoulder. I pulled the bottom of my pyjama top up to my neck, and turned so my back faced Cadence, asking, "Am I bruised?"

I heard her gasp, and looked around to see her jaw having a rest on the floor (not literally). "What?" I asked.

"Um... yeah, you're bruised..." she said quietly, kind of detached.

"...Okay..." I said. "How can I see?"

Cadence brought me a little rectangular mirror a little bigger than my hand. I faced the mirror on her wall, with the gold filigree, while she moved the smaller mirror around so I could see the whole of my back.

"Wow," was all I said.

I donned my fluffy red dressing gown and pulled up the hood. My matching slippers were little red boots, with pom-poms swinging from red ribbons attached to the top of the boot. Neither really matched my white pyjamas with brown and pink spots.

I scooped up my polar bear and Cadence, clothed in sky blue, white and grey koala pyjamas followed me out the door.

Finally crawling back into bed, I was exhausted and slept without reading my note, curled around Polo (so original).

Reveka's eyes had bugged when I lifted to back of my nightshirt. She caked me in ointment as gently as she could, but she still hurt me a little bit. I told her not to worry.

She gave me an extra fleecy blanket, cyan with chocolate coloured polka-dots. I wore it back to the dorm, barely able to keep my eyes open, and slithered under the covers from the side without even opening then.

Cadence rubbed my arm while my back was being slathered in cream and guided me by my elbow all the way back to bed from the infirmary.

I slept on my front and didn't stir until the next morning. Or rather night, I was lucky I'd missed sunrise on my trip to Reveka's office.

In the morning, I awoke to find Cadence still reading, nearing the end now. She jumped when she heard me, smiled, then returned to her book, greeting me with "Night," as though I was going to bed, not waking up.

"That'll take a while to get used to," I said, and Cadence smiled in reply.

I curled around polo, using him as a pillow under my ribs, and picked up my note.

The envelope crinkled as I opened it, and little silver sequin-stars spilled out of it. I pulled out the letter and read it carefully. It said:

Dear Cammie,

Well this is harsh, huh? Guess I'm not gonna see you for a while. Your mum told me that she trusted you enough to live alone, and assured me not to worry. She's really nice, huh. Bex and Liz are devastated, they cried all evening when you left, and it took me two hours just for them to coherently tell me you were unconscious. I was like, where were you shot? They were crying so hard! It's really sweet how they love you. I really regret not... not deciding... stuff... before I saw your Mark. I'm really sorry. Andy and Jack had been bugging me for weeks saying you liked me, but I didn't think they were serious (they're usually not). Anyways, I'm gonna miss you loads, but I'll visit whenever and write to you, if you'll send me your address. Mine's 3 Swan Way and you know all the rest of the details. When your mum gets you that new phone, let me know and I'll text you.

I'll see you around, I guess.

Love Ethan xxx

I sighed. Aww, why did he have to tell me this _now_? Now that I couldn't see him, and tell him I love him, and give him three kisses!

A warm tear slithered from my eye. He'd met my mum and he liked my friends. That was one good thing. And he wanted to stay in touch - that was great news.

I sighed sleepily, wanting to just go back to sleep. I dragged myself out of bed, though, and put on a clean black hoody with the silver swirl on my left breast and I pulled on my comfiest jeans, worn to about two millimetres thick.

I pulled on some ancient wool boots with buttons down the side. And went to brush my teeth and wash my face.

I picked up a notebook I'd carried around yesterday and a pen. Cadence was already ready, her long, think hair waving down to the bottom of her ribs from the ponytail she'd secured at the back of her head fairly high up.

We unwillingly shuffled down to eat breakfast. I had my usual Coco-pops and hot chocolate. None of the girls looked at me this morning, but the blonde one glared at me, locating my hazel eyes in the shadow my black hood caused. My uncontrollable hair was just stuck up in a bun, and it made my hood look a bit weird, but I didn't care.

When we were both done, Cadence and I groggily tramped of to our first periods, hugging before we departed.

Reveka was the only person in room 215, and she looked pretty concerned as I stumbled into the blue-carpeted room.

She reached out to steady me, grabbing both my shoulders, and she asked, "Are you alright, Cammie?"

"I'm just tired," I assured her. "You know, first day, unusual Mark, managed to ride Pandora, all that jazz."

"Indeed," was the reply. "You definitely have something to show for that," Reveka murmured, meaning my bruise.

A few silent tears spilled from my eyes as I tried to collect myself.

Reveka pulled me to her chest, curling both arms around my head.

"Thanks," I sniffed, hugging her back, "I need a hug."

"What's the matter?" She asked, sounding just like my mother, which made me cry harder.

So I told her everything, all about yesterday and missing my mum and Ethan and his note. How tired I was.

As a few students started to file in, I slouched in my seat and Reveka presented me with some black coffee.

"Ugh, thank you!" I said with full gratitude. Caffeine!

I still took notes throughout the lesson, which was based around the same legends as yesterday, just with a little more in-depth analysis. I sipped my coffee happily, and as I left the room I was presented with a bottle of full-fat _Coca-cola_, which I drank throughout the day.

I managed to stay awake all though my lessons and Lenobia took pity on me, telling me I shouldn't ride.

I did ride, trotting a little on Pandora, who seemed to feel sympathy for me too. She took me for a while, but after ten minutes she walked me into her stable.

I mucked out and fetched clean water. When I was done, Pandora sprawled out in the fresh straw and I sat down beside her, resting my aching back against her warm, black belly.

I was woken up thirty minutes later, when Dragon Lankford deposited me in my bed. I thanked him, and his wife, Anastasia, who performed a spell to allow me to sleep dreamlessly and undisturbed. Lenobia made sure I was safe as she was my instructor at the time, stoking my hair. I drifted off to Boboland.

Reveka came in around thirty seconds later. She and Cadence held me upright while she fed me thick, milky liquid. It was like porridge, but it was sweeter, nicer and the texture was much smoother, like uncooked pancakes. She told me it was something she made herself and that she was glad I liked it.

She kissed my forehead as I was sunk into the deep covers and an even deeper sleep.

I woke up the next seven p.m. feeling refreshed and well fed, and I bounded to the shower, happily dressing in a short, puff-sleeved black blouse with my silver swirl embroidered on the front. I put on a thick black knitted cardigan and pale denim skinny jeans that slid snugly into my brown cowboy boots.

I ate _Curiously Cinnamon _this morning with my hot chocolate, and walked with Cadence to the courtyard before we hugged and split up again. I skipped into Reveka's classroom early just so I could talk to her.

I smiled broadly as I bounced in, and she smiled in return, chuckling a little.

"Feeling better?" she asked happily.

"Yes! Thank you, I feel soooo much better, you have no idea!"

"That's good, because we've got our weekly ritual tonight."

I looked up at my High-Priestess questioningly, and she replied, "it's just a worship session to our Goddess, Nyx, just like a church session, but... a little different," she smiled a little.

"Okay," I said enthusiastically, walking to my seat as my fellow students walked in.

We started a new legend today, learning of Abelia, an ancient High Priestess who could become the wind. Her name meant breath or sigh, and she used her powers to defend her House of Night against an attack of nearly four hundred black spirits, ghost-like mists that take on many different forms, based mostly on the living nutrition they absorb, such as human or animal flesh.

Abelia was promoted to the Vampyre Lands of Italy, and still sits today on the left hand of the High Priestess of all Priestesses.

At the end of the lesson, everyone filed out while I stayed to talk to Reveka. "Hey, Adara said that everyone could change their name?"

"Yes, they can."

"How come you didn't mention it?"

"Because, Cameron, I knew you wouldn't want to change it," she smiled, and I smiled back.

"Know-it-all," I joked, winking.

"High-five," she asked, and I smacked her hand, looking back at her as I filed out for my next lesson.

Drama was the same as ever, the study of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Also, Adara had some news for us.

"Orianna, you will be playing Nerissa," she called, and Orianna smiled in response.

"Fallon, you will be playing Jessica," Adara smiled, Fallon looked up wide-eyed.

I smiled at Fallon, gently elbowing her side to get her attention. "Nice one," I said.

"Cammie," Adara called – my turn to be surprised – "you will be playing the part of Portia." She winked at me.

I smiled in disbelief and Fallon beamed at me in encouragement. "Um... Yay!" I said, and Fallon and I laughed. The rest of the lesson we helped each other learn our lines.

The rest of the day (night) passed as normally as it would in any other school, except I enjoyed it more. I found it interesting and fun, and the people were so great to be around.

This riding lesson I took to Pandora in the spare dust school, mastering a few low jumps and setting exact checkpoints for trots, canters and stops and so on.

I kept going for a while, until Cadence appeared in the large barn-like doorway. "Hi," she said, making me jump.

Pandora took control and trotted over to greet Cadence. I stayed in the saddle and said "hey."

"You're really good with her," she said.

"Thanks, how long have you been there?"

"Just under ten minutes, I guess."

"Huh," was all I said, as usual.

"D..." she started, saying it like the phonic. "Do you think you can teach me?" she asked. She didn't do equine studies, she found herself studying animal biology, mostly in a classroom, which wasn't _so_ bad.

"Well... Sure, I think. Be careful though, she doesn't seem to like strangers," I said, jabbing my thumb towards my bruised back.

She giggled hesitantly as I slid from the smooth leather saddle. I knotted my fingers together and Cadence hesitantly stepped in the cup of my hand. I pushed up as hard as I could.

Her leg swung round very gracefully and she picked up the reins. I smoothed them so that they weren't upside-down and demonstrated to her how to hold them, just with your middle three fingers wrapped around the textured part of the rubber.

On my instruction, she kicked Pandora's sides gently. Pandora didn't budge. "Harder," I commanded, and Cadence obeyed. She settled cautiously into the saddle, getting used to the feel of Pandora's walk for a lap. When she came to a bend in the track, I ordered her to stick her right arm out straight, and she did, pulling Pandora to the right, gently.

When they reached me again I told her that to turn, she just had to 'open' the rein, as though to pull it away from Pandora's mouth slightly.

They set off walking again, and I ordered Cadence to kick twice, not too hard. She did so, and Pandora launched into a graceful trot, slower than normal, while Cadence bounced on the saddle.

"On one of the bounces, stand up straight on the stirrups and on the next one sit down again," I ordered, "just keep standing and sitting."

I helped down, calling out "up, down, up, down," until she reached a good, steady rhythm.

She beamed, proud of her achievement. "Go, girl!" I yelled in encouragement.

After two more laps of steady rising trot, Pandora and her rider stopped in front of me again.

"Right, you're gonna trot again," I said, "but when I tell you to, sit down in the saddle and kick with all your might, okay?"

"Okay," Cadence said, unafraid of Pandora now.

"Alright, trot now," I told her. Then when she got to the first turn, "NOW!" I yelled.

She sat back and kick-kick-kicked as hard as she could. Pandora launched off in a beautiful canter. "Sit back!" I yelled. "Push down against the stirrups and, most importantly, DON'T LET GO!"

Cadence squealed a laugh in delight as she accomplished her first canter, racing around the circle several times without stopping.

"Alright!" I called in celebration.

Cadence stopped in front of me and slid from the saddle needing no instruction, following my earlier example. She was smiling from ear to ear and she laughed a breathy laugh.

"That was amazing!" she said, a twinkle reaching her eyes.

"Awesome," I said, "now would you help he muck her out?" I asked.

"Already done," said a voice behind me. Cadence smiled at the person and I turned to see silken-haired Lenobia standing in the huge doorway.

"Will your talents never cease?" she said jokingly, hugging me, leading back Pandora instructing us to go and shower and change.

It was time for my first ritual.


	7. Chapter 7

SEVEN

I FELT VERY SELF CONSCIOUS WALKING PAST A LARGE, white statue of a beautiful woman wearing black cotton tights, my cool, red one-inch heels and a black tea-dress, filmy on the outside with lots of red spots, more little blobs in nature, as they weren't round. I also wore red rose ear-studs that complimented my never-removed necklace well.

My shoes clicked across the grey cobbles as I put on my black wool cardigan over my short-sleeved dress. I wasn't very cold, but it seemed silly to hold it.

The inward babble about my appearance died in my brain as Cadence and I walked through the white, marble arch-way that contrasted perfectly with the dark, grey stones into Nyx's temple. In the small square entryway, the carpet was black, and thick white candles flickered happily in glass votives that were fixed to the wall.

The black floor continued down a hallway to another square space almost identical to the entryway. In here, there was another white arch leading into a soft-but-dark purple-carpeted room that was very large and longer than it was wide. The archway was in the centre of the width of it, and inside I could see most of the school sitting cross-legged in a massive circle.

At each wall sat a Professor holding a candle and chatting animatedly with the students. I was stood gawking at them for so long, Professor Anastasia had to touch the top of my arm to bring my mind back to my head.

"Merry meet, Cammie, love," with what I realised suddenly was a soft, southern American accent.

"Merry meet," I replied, as Cadence had told be to in our dorm room earlier.

"You look far better today," Anastasia commented, smiling warmly at me.

"I feel much better, thank you," my thanks was deep, including all her help yesterday. I thought I could see that she perceived that.

"Um, not to be rude," I began out of morbid curiosity, "but where... where do you come from? It's you and Dragon _and _Lenobia, isn't it? I hadn't noticed before, you all have an accent."

"That's very perceptive, Cammie," she said, jokingly. "I, my mate and my friends come from Tulsa, in Oklahoma. We transferred here half a year ago, and will leave half a year after you have become a full vampire."

"_If _I become a full vampire," I muttered, knowing full well that I could reject the change and drop dead at any minute.

Anastasia breathed deeply and studied my mark. "Nyx has touched you, I think. Let us see what she makes of you," she smiled, conveying her belief in her words.

Behind us, more students came shuffling into the hall.

"Blessed be, Cammie, Cadence," she said, and crossed our foreheads with an oily, wet substance that was soon absorbed.

Together, Cadence and I walked into the huge hall and found a seat with Danny. Beside him were three girls who looked like WAGs in training, and I had a feeling that they aspired to be just that. I realised that the one in the middle was the blonde girl who had been glaring at me the past couple of days. She looked like she envied the attention I drew, more than anything.

Slowly, music began to crescendo to a noticeable volume, sweet and light and floaty. I could practically see the notes floating around me.

Everyone stood, and I followed suit as the music calmed me. My breath caught in my throat as Reveka emerged from a purple voile curtain covering a white archway halfway along the length of the hall that I hadn't noticed before.

She begain to move with the music, not dancing by modern standards, where drunk girls with too-short skirts bumped and grinded disgustingly, thinking they were sexy. The movement was beautiful, flowing and rippling and smooth. Reveka was so beautiful, smiling with so much Joy that I wanted to walk up and join her.

I did reason with myself, of course, that I'd had enough embarrassment for my first half-week here. She wore a long flowing skirt, like the plum one from the other day, but black. She wore a purple jewelled scarf around her hips like a sarong, with beaded tassels jingling in time with her silver bangles. As she passed by us, eyes closed, I read the ornate silver bands; one was engraved with Hope, one Faith, one Love, one Peace and one Spirit. Each word had a jen in the circle of one of the letters, too: Hope was yellow, Faith red, Love blue, Peace green and Spirit purple.

The music faded low again as Reveka came to the centre of the circle, where a bounteous round table stood carrying a white statue of the Goddess, hands upraised, cupping the moon like in the insignia the Professors wore over their chests, as well as plenty of fruit and meat as a gift for Nyx and four large goblets. In front of the Goddess' statue was a tall purple candle, thick and creamy with a silver ribbon tied around it halfway down.

"Friends! Welcome to this week's worship, Merry meet!"

We all responded with "Merry Meet."

"This week, three new Fledglings have joined us, which is a lot to find ourselves greeting in such a short space of time.

"Merry meet, Thomas, Angela and Cammie," she smiled as her gaze touched each of us, and we repeated again, "Merry meet."

"Last week I asked you to reflect on friendship and what it specifically means to you. This week, I ask that you question your hope. Do you hope for the right things? Is hope a dangerous thing for you? What does hope actually do for you?

"In my opinion, we need hope. Hope gives us something to strive for, which in turn gives us something to believe and have faith in to achieve what it is we hope to.

"Professor Axiom, our poet Laureate will tell you now what hope means to him."

As she spoke, a tall male stepped forward from the outskirts of the circle to my right. I hadn't even noticed him. He had silky brown hair in a stylish mop on his head, piercing, ice-blue eyes and a strong nose. He looked barely older than twenty.

His recitation of a poem made my skin tingle:

_There is a kingdom, _

_High above,_

_Where Nyx is the sun and the moon._

_We hope each day for something new,_

_And each day she holds true._

_We hope for happiness and peace and faith,_

_We hope for friends and a clear path._

_But understand that as we strive,_

_Truly we hope for spirit and love,_

_We long for our Goddess' touch._

Professor Axiom's poem made me wet-eyed at his level of sensitivity and the emotion he presented in his words. He truly did have a gift.

"Thank you, Professor, now for our circle!" Reveka said excitedly.

Everyone in the circle turned to the right to face the arch through which we'd entered the room.

"Air is essential for life, without it we would be just spirit. Each day our body hopes for air, without us even knowing it. Come to me air," she said conversationally, like greeting an old friend. As she said it, I could feel the power of the wind and the force it could maintain.

Reveka lit a yellow candle, held by Professor Lenobia.

"Next is fire." We all turned right again, so I now faced the wall. "Warming us and providing for us, we have hoped fire will come for centuries, to maintain our healthy being and provide us with cooked nutrition, come to me fire," she said, lighting a red candle held by a professor who I did not recognise, and I felt the pure energy that fire was, deep within my soul.

"Third, we call water. This is truly necessary for us to live, be we vampire or human. Many in this world hope with their whole hearts for water. Please bless them, and come to me, water," again I felt power. Just sheer power and energy and fulfilment when a blue candle was lit, held by Dragon.

"Next, I call Earth," Reveka said and, again, we turned clockwise. "Earth is beautiful. It provides and sustains and keeps our passed vessels safe so that we may enter the Spirit Realm. We will always hope for it to be there, and it will never fail us. Come to me Earth," she said, and this was the biggest shock I felt. It wasn't particularly Earthy – wasn't grassy, or anything – but it was so full and – as Reveka had said – beautiful, reflected by the dancing flame attached to the green handle held by another professor I did not know.

"Finally, to my circle I call Spirit, our essence. I hope for you that your spirit will be pure and clear for eternity, and that nothing should try to taint it, come to me spirit," Reveka finished, lighting the purple candle that stood on the table. I felt a rush, and my fingertips tingled with heat. All the elements that she'd called had just filled me with energy. I wanted to jump and dance and run and laugh all over. I loved it!

More words of wisdom and hope were spoken, legends shared and hopes exchanged. I listened closely to some ancient vampire legends, one of which was from Native American Cherokee Tribes.

Once all hopes had been share, Reveka closed the circle in the reverse order that she'd opened it.

"Thank you for your ears, spirit, you may leave us. We appreciate your sustenance, Earth, you may depart. Water, we are grateful for you, goodbye. Your warmth is brilliant, thank you, fire. And last but not least, thank you for our life, air."

Once all the elements were gone, so was the energy. I felt drained, even though I was no more tired before the circle was cast. I was sad that all that strength and power had gone.

As we left the temple, I said to Cadence, "doesn't the energy from the elements just feel great?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," she said. "Reveka's great, she can just about make a brick feel energetic."

I laughed with her, happy after my wake-up of energy.

We made our way back to the dorms. We'd had dinner in the hall before the ritual, and now we needed to get in the warm and relax for a while. Tomorrow was Saturday, after all.

On our way in, I grabbed a bowl of Coco-Pops and a glass of banana milk. Cadence picked up some sugar-free popcorn (ugh, the vamps were totally big on healthy eating) and poured herself a cup of tea from the pot that was already hot and brewed. She added far too much sugar.

Pleased with our little feasts, we journeyed to our room. I spooned in cereal between movements as I changed into my pyjamas in the main room and Cadence cleaned off her mascara and changed next door. Once I was comfortable I grabbed a book from my shelf I had not yet read, _The Other Side of the Stars_, and curled up, my cereal resting on the bedside cabinet where I gathered a spoonful into my mouth every now and then. Cadence, too, had started a new book, and was now on _Fallen_, a book I realised I'd wanted before I was Marked.

"Hey, mind if I borrow that once you're done?" I asked. "Only, I remember seeing it before I came here and telling myself I'd buy it."

"Of course," she replied, and a sort of eagerness crept into her face. "I have the sequels to this, and I have all these..."

Pulling up the edge of her duvet, stacks of books were revealed piled up under her bed. My jaw dropped.

"Mind if I borrow that one?" She asked.

"Yup," I squeaked out.

My eyes did not lose their wideness for several minutes.

My banana milk tasted good, and when we'd had our fill of food and chapters, Cadence started to move her messy desk to the centre of the room, between our beds. My brow wrinkled in confusion.

"What are you...?" I began to ask, but soon all became clear.

Cadence brought down from her shelf a widescreen, portable DVD player, one of the large-ish, expensive-ish ones. She sat it on the desk and turned to me.

"Well," she said, "I've got most of Disney plus a few randoms. You got anything?"

I smiled. This girl was fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

"Well," I began, "I have Twili-"

"NO!"

A jumped and jerked back, eyes wide. Had that cry really come from this quiet girl? She seemed to be surprised by herself, as well. And I didn't think the Twilight saga was that bad.

"Sorry... I had this friend," she shook her head and began to laugh a little. "She was... too much." She laughed more. "Okay..." she said, barely containing herself now.

I was still shocked by her outburst, and now she was in fits of giggles, lying across her bed with her face buried and her whole frame shaking with her amusement.

"Alright," I whispered to myself, and got up in pursuit of Cadence's DVD collection.

She was right, she had very nearly all the Disney's. I allowed a little "ooh!" to escape my lips when I spotted one of my favourite favourites (there are still, of course, many Disney movies to love).

I fed the DVD player the disk and the machine took it in hungrily. I selected English from the language menu and skipped through the trailers, allowing happy tears to come when I paused over the montage of all the best, classic, Disneys.

The film finally got rolling and Cadence hiccupped into a sitting position, tears streaming down her face. "Sorry," she gasped. "It wasn't even that funny, I just... got a little..." And she was off again.

However, when she was tired from it all she came around. "Aww, Tangled," she said. "This is one of the best ones."

"I think so, too."

We quieted down then and settled into our warm, comfortable beds with the last few sips of banana milk and tea.

"Can you see it properly?" Cadence whispered.

"Well, not really," I replied truthfully. The screen wasn't exactly large and there was dust on the screen.

I focused on the animation anyway, the dialogue and music providing explanation.

Before I knew what was happening, Cadence had grabbed my elbow and yanked me off my bed with a yelp, where I landed softly enough on my duvet in my fluffy dressing-gown.

I turned to glare at her, but she was stretching to pull my pillow down, as she had done with hers.

"Oh," I said softly. "You know, there are less painful ways of doing that. Like negotiation."

"Yeah, whatever," she said casually and settled in to watch the DVD and actually see it this time.

We were both positioned comfortably and very nearly asleep when I jerked.

I felt a strong shiver and jerked upright. Blackness seemed tangible in the very dark room, just for a second, and then it faded away.

"What's the matter?" Cadence asked.

"I'm not... sure..." I murmured. "I think something might be wrong... evil, even..." Okay, I knew how corny that sounded.

"No, I believe you," Cadence said, looking at me earnestly, sensing my hesitation. "I feel it too."

"Something's here," I continued. "There's something at the House of Night."


	8. Chapter 8

EIGHT

Cadence and I woke up to the sound of a nagging but kind voice. A warm sunset still streamed through a gap in the top of the curtains, which meant that it was way too early.

My eyes cleared slowly until I could see Reveka standing over us, her sandy hair nearly touching my nose. I looked down and attempted to disentangle myself from the mess Cadence and I had created, while she yawned close beside me. I was still tired and my eyes ached.

"Reveka...?" I managed to mumble before an eye-watering yawn.

"Cammie? Are you all right? And you, Cadence?"

"I'm... fine," I said, thoroughly confused, my eyebrows knitting together.

Reveka's hair was lightly tousled and her eyes, too, sparkled with tiredness. She wore a silk wrap-around that came to her knees and tied around her waist, showing off her perfect figure. The black material and red trimming contrasted with her lightly bronzed skin and bright green flip-flops.

"Did you feel it? There is darkness here," she said cryptically, focusing her gaze on the gap in the curtains. "Something is tainting us... It carried me a message that it was with you. I was worried that you may be hurt.

"We're absolutely fine, Reveka," Cadence said, while Reveka and I shared a soul-deep look. "We felt it before we slept, but we're not hurt."

I gasped as a prickle in my toe startled my tired brain. I brought my foot out from under my duvet to reveal a tiny red dot like a pinprick in my big toe. Fear shot through me and made my insides shiver.

"It is warning us," Reveka said. "Be wary, it does not wish to be underestimated," she looked at Cadence, who nodded, looking like a rabbit in headlights.

Reveka sighed resignedly, pressed her lips together and stood from her stoop over us. "It is still two hours before lessons. Rest further. I will see you both in your classes."

"See you," we said, and Reveka swept gracefully from the room, softly clicking the door shut.

I practically sleep-walked to Vampire Sociology class, full of cereal and tea and comfortable in my scruffiest jeans and a long-sleeved House of Night T-Shirt underneath my thick, grey poncho.

For the second time, Reveka presented me with coffee upon entry to her classroom. I smiled my thanks at her half-heartedly and collapsed into my seat.

I took a long drag of coffee and looked up to see my mentor looking at me with such worry that it lined her beautiful face.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, almost scared to ask.

"I fear that the darkness that has entered this place has wearied you," she replied. "I must watch over you. Do not ride today, be wary with your foil. Stay out of the way of harm."

"Okay," I replied after slight hesitation.

Reveka gave an almost imperceptible nod of finality as a few students started to arrive and take their seats.

This sociology lesson we focused on a chapter in the textbook that wasn't to do with a legend or a remarkable part of vampire history.

Vaguely I registered that it was to do with the physiological part of our transformation, but I could not concentrate.

My eyes were drawn out of the window, where the night seemed to be darker than usual; it was blacker and more sinister and it chilled my bones.

The whole day was like that; I was very calm and easygoing in fencing and Dragon intuitively knew why, of course, my eyes were glued to the windows as Cadence and I sate and ate dinner together and I didn't ride Pandora.

Darkness just drew me, but not in a way that made me desire it, in a way that made me paranoid to be outside alone.

The spaghetti carbonara was brilliant at dinner and made me a little more comfortable, but Cadence and I did not find conversation easy.

We retreated to our room just as normal. It seemed to be becoming a boring habit.

We watched Disney, we slept, we woke up. There was no change in the blanket of darkness that covered the campus, but Cadence brought up an interesting discovery.

"Yesterday, I only felt that darkness thing when I was near you," she said.

"W-what?" I asked brilliant, worried for my own safety.

"Well, when I was with you, I was paranoid to craziness, but when I was in my lessons I felt fine and normal. I completely forgot about it, but not just putting it to the back of my mind, it was like it ceased to exist. Like the Silence in Matt Smith's series of _Doctor Who_, you know?"

"Yeah, I remember..." I said.

I looked up at the clock. It was 7.20... Enough time for Reveka to be in her office, still.

"Okay, I'm going to Reveka," I said, and up and left before Cadence could volunteer to join me.

Once I got to Reveka's office beside the infirmary, I raised my hand to know, but she called "Come on in, Cammie," from behind the door, which was spooky. But I was getting used to it now.

"Hi," I said as I went in and sat down before my mentor's desk.

Around the room were pictures of the House of Night, ranging from the 1790s up to know, mostly every twenty years or so. There were also lots of random Reveka-style decorations, like several owls (wall arts and trinkets), lots of purple and lots of famous quotes that make you consider your selfishness or general character.

"What can I do for you, love?" Reveka asked, reminding me for the umpteenth time of my mother.

"You make me think of my mum," I said.

Reveka smiled at me knowingly, her eyes twinkling. "Thank you, love, but that is not why you are here?" she prompted, sensing my unease.

"Cadence said something freaky earlier..." I hesitated.

"Go on," Reveka encouraged.

"She said that she only felt that strange darkness when she was around me, but when she was away from me it was like it never existed," I explained.

My mentor nodded in a way that suggested a thought had been confirmed.

"I feared something like this. Since the energy brought to me the knowledge that it was with you, I, too, have only felt it when in your presence."

"What does that mean?" I asked, desperately confused.

"Love, I do not know," Reveka said kindly. "But I take comfort that you are not hurt, and despite the paranoia, the taint is not bothering you."

I sighed. "Okay."

"Do not worry, Cammie, you are safe here. We will not let anything happen to you, love. While we keep an eye on you, try and think of good things. For example, parent visitation is just next Tuesday, to which your mother has been invited. Also, upon enquiry, it was confirmed that boyfriends and best friends are welcome to visitation."

Reveka beamed and winked as I gasped in surprise and my heart began to flutter in delight.

While I fought to remain under control, I could not help my outburst.

"YAY!" I cried and jumped up and down in my seat.

Reveka laughed with me and we got up to head for our first lesson together.

As she held the door open for me, I once again lost control of my actions and hugged her, hard.

"Thank you," I whispered, and tried to convey to her vamp's intuition how much I trusted and loved her and how grateful I really was.

Once again, Reveka mirrored my mother, hugging me back and kissing the top of my head.

"You're welcome," she whispered back, and I felt the weight of that statement as she responded to my telepathic communication.

Once again, the day passed quickly around my cautious attitude. My drama was coming along well, and I was ahead of everyone else in music. My academia was fine, my Spanish not so great. My fencing was of a satisfactory standard and my horse riding was great, but no-one's riding ability is ever graded.

So I was doing well at the House of Night. I missed chemistry and my friends and my mother, but I was doing well. There were just some minor issues currently making themselves known.

I didn't notice the blackness so much, though. It was still nagging the extensive recesses of my mind, but it was not claiming the forefront of it as I went about the day with my usual approach.

Once again, Cadence and I found ourselves sitting together at a smallish, round table in the dining hall, eating what was, today, delicious roast chicken.

This time, however, I saw that there was another lonely face in the room. It was a girl I recognised from Drama and Equine studies, and to be honest, I hadn't really paid her much attention since we'd met. I little wave of guilt came to greet me.

Fallon picked up her tray, went to a round table smaller than ours and sat, content in her own company, picking hungrily at her cut of chicken.

I sighed slightly, knowing it was a little silly to be all good-Samaritan with so many people already scrutinising me and the fact that good deeds were now apparently just a sign that you want attention. I decided to stuff the stupid people with that philosophy, excused myself for a minute, got up and approached Fallon, leaving my nice meal to grow cold without me devouring it.

"Hey, Fallon," I said, sitting down opposite her.

"Um, hello," she said, a little surprised I'd come up to her but comfortable enough. She stabbed a carrot.

"Why don't you come and sit with us?" I asked. "We've got that whole table all to ourselves so you might as well come and fill a seat."

"Sure, okay," Fallon said, quite confidently compared to when I'd first met her.

"Cool," I replied and led her to our table where she sat down opposite us.

I sat down heavily and resumed the decimation of my chicken. One I'd finished my mouthful, I thought it best to interrupt the increasingly awkward silence.

"So, have you guys been in any classes together?" I asked.

"No, we haven't met," Cadence said.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, this is Cadence; this is Fallon, make friends."

They smiled at each other, not nervously, just without enthusiasm, like they were both tired from the day, but in no way hostile towards each other.

"Fallon's in my drama and equine classes, Cadence, and this is my roommate, Cadence, Fallon," I said indicating them as best I could. We all laughed resignedly.

I sighed, shrugged and dug into my meal again.

After a few moments of silence, a shadow approached me from behind. It wasn't scary darkness shadow; it was person-trying-to-create-ominous-effect shadow.

I swivelled in my seat to find three girls standing there that reminded me scarily of the trio of _Mean Girls_.

"Hello," I said politely.

"So," said the one in the centre, who had black hair and icy blue eyes that stuck out like pools of water in a desert of spray-tanned skin.

"You're Cammie, huh?" she continued, snapping some lovely, after-meal gum. "You're the latest 'chosen one'."

"Have you heard about Zoey Redbird?" I asked. "I've heard she's pretty chosen."

"Whatever, shut up and listen, bitch."

I started to make an outraged retort, but she cut me off, leaning right in so that our noses almost touched. "I'm 'it' here. Understand? I'm special and smart and four-hundred times more beautiful than you are. All this jazz about Pandora? Whatever! I could do it in my sleep! I just don't want to risk injuring my perfect face."

The two girls flanking her nodding and 'harrumphed' in agreement.

"Okay, if you say so." I said lightheartedly. "Anything else?"

Her eyes narrowed and her lip curved slightly into a snarl. "My name's Zenith," she said. "Remember from class? That legend? Well, I'm just as fantastic as she is, maybe even better. So, watch out, freak. You and your snotty posse are nothing compared to me."

And she stalked off, her two sidekicks making triumphant gestures in her wake.

I laughed once. "Okay."

Fallon and Cadence were frozen. They didn't look like they'd been hurt by her or anything, but they looked terrified.

"Oh, come on! You're not scared of her? That's what she wants! Just pretend you agree and zip it. She can't do anything to you; she's so sticky she'd probably just snap in half trying."

Fallon and Cadence lightened just a little bit, clearly needing a leader to draw out their submissive but colourful personalities.

Finally, we all scraped up the last of our dinners and Cadence and I bid Fallon good night as we wend to our dorm rooms.

As I entered our room, Cadence gasped behind me, and I turned my head to see Zenith, flanked by her cronies, standing in the middle of our room.

I sighed and indicated to Cadence to escape to the bathroom. I heard the door lock.

"What is it, Zenith?" I asked, assuming a bored stance and tapping my foot.

"Hey, bitch, don't you freaking take that tone with me!"

"C'Mon, Zenith, the bitch act's not working. Your little friends are a joke and you're as orange as a freaking orange."

Zenith's eyes widened before they narrowed into a dagger-like glare.

I raised my eyebrows, daring her.

What I wasn't expecting was for her to charge me.

It was _my _turn to widen my eyes then, as Zenith hurtled towards me, fist clenched in one hand, fake nails clawed on the other.

Everything happened super quickly, so much so that I didn't really recall most of it.

Zenith lashed at me – utterly lashed – dragging a hot talon down my cheek and drawing blood.

I grabbed her hand, the one that had struck me, and, not realising either my strength or her weakness, I pinned Zenith to the ground, hand behind her back, hair in a tangled mess, and sat on her back, the short, hard plastic heels of my black leather boots trapping her sleeves against the carpet.

In all this time, I hadn't noticed the sound of the toilet flushing.

I turned my head rather uncomfortably to see Cadence standing between our beds, both wrists of both sidekick girls in either hand.

A laugh burst out of me as I saw her standing there so comfortably, these stick-thin creatures tugging at her frantically.

I grabbed both of Zenith's wrists and helped her up, standing behind her where I could keep away from her bared teeth.

"Okay," I said conversationally. "Cronies, meet Cadence. Cronies names are...?"

"London," said the mocha-skinned, dark-haired one.

"Paris," said the almost-as-orange-as-Zenith, white blonde one.

Cadence and I shared a moment, our mouths struggling against the laughter that quickly burst free.

"Would you get on with shit?" Zenith hissed though her clenched teeth.

I allowed another laugh to escape my lips with a tear from my eye before quieting down to address Zenith.

"Okay, don't bully people. It just makes everyone hate you. And don't be so selfish and full-of-yourself and 'I'm brilliant' because it just makes everyone hate you more," I said, madly mocking Zenith's voice, which was slightly higher than my own.

"Fuck you, bitch," Zenith replied gracefully.

"Yeah, okay. If you say so. Now would you please get your skinny little arse out of our room?"

I shoved Zenith towards the door as I let her go and stepped aside as Cadence propelled Paris and London forward.

As she was leaving, Zenith turned her head and did that look that just said 'I'm on to you' in a supposed-to-be-threatening way.

Cadence and I made sure the door was finally shut before changing into our pyjamas and snuggling down into bed – our actual ones tonight.

I sighed deeply as I settled, relieved to be in such a comfortable location after the fast-moving day's events.

We began to watch _Brother Bear _together, but I fell asleep soon after the impact of head on pillow.

"What a super-mega bitch," I murmured before I slipped smoothly into unconsciousness.


End file.
